Terre des Hommes demands: No suspension of family reunification
Osnabrück/Berlin, May 27, 2025 – On May 28, the Federal Cabinet is scheduled to decide on a draft law, initiated by the Federal Ministry of the Interior, that would suspend family reunification for those granted subsidiary protection for two years. For those affected, the suspension would mean being separated from their families for many years. Even now, many people face long waits for decisions in their asylum applications, for appointments to apply for family reunification, and for the actual implementation of the process. Suspending family reunification would therefore separate them from their relatives for well over two years.
Regarding the draft resolution on family reunification at tomorrow's cabinet meeting, Joshua Hofert, spokesperson for the board of Terre des Hommes stated:
"The protection of children within their families is fundamental to our society and is firmly enshrined in law. However, many families are separated by displacement and flight. Children and young people sometimes wait years for reunification with their parents. This also applies to those granted subsidiary protection, most of whom will live permanently in Germany. Their integration is often made much more difficult without their families: When parents or children are impossibly far away, they have more difficulty learning, pursuing vocational training, or concentrating on work.".
As an organization that advocates for children's rights, Terre des Hommes appeals to the German government to abandon the proposed amendment to the law. The ban on family reunification, presented as a supposed symbol of a shift in migration policy, will only prolong the separation of families indefinitely and block the integration of refugees already living here. Given the sharp decline in the number of refugees arriving in Germany over the past several months, the planned amendment is all the more incomprehensible